This application relates generally to the field of carrier devices for golf clubs, and more particularly to such carriers adapted to retain a plurality of clubs, each club being retained in a dedicated retention system such that any individual retained club may be removed from and resecured in the carrier without affecting the remaining clubs. This invention further relates to such carriers designed to carry less than a full set of clubs, and to such carriers that may be reduced in size when not in use.
The game of golf requires the use of a plurality of individual golf clubs each club differing from the other clubs in terms of structure and purpose (e.g., putter vs. iron vs. driver) and/or design specifications (e.g., differing lofts for each iron). The typical golf club carrier is a golf bag, a generally cylindrical, open-topped container into which all of the golf clubs are inserted shaft-first, the heads of the golf clubs extending from the top of the bag. Some bags provided dividers or tubes to separate the golf clubs. Some are designed to be lightweight for the golfer to carry, while heavier golf bags are meant to transported on the back of a golf cart.
When playing on a full size golf course, a golfer will bring 14 clubs, the maximum number set forth in the rules of golf, or possibly one or two more or less when playing a non-tournament round. There are times however when a golfer may not need the full complement of clubs, such as for example when practicing on a driving range or playing a par 3 course. In these circumstances a golfer may only need a small number of clubs, in which case carrying a full-size bag with unwanted clubs is burdensome.
Non-bag-type golf club carriers are known, such as U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2006/0163893 to Gascoigne, U.S. Pat. No. 8,287,399 to LaCombe, U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,999 to York et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,514 to Massetti, U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,384 to Tarko et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,334 to Wu, U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,114 to Coffey, U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,539 to Atalay, U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,996 to Scammon. U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,181 to Reed, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,865 to Steele. These known carriers, however, are not optimally structured, as many consist of separate components when disassembled, have relatively fragile or flimsy assemblies, and clumsy in design and functionality.
It is an object of this invention to provide a golf club carrier adapted and structured to retain a number of clubs less than a full set, such as for example six to eight clubs, the carrier having a light weight structure, which improves upon the earlier known devices in a novel and non-obvious manner. It is a further object to provide such a carrier wherein each club is individually retained for easy removal from and return to the carrier without affecting the remaining clubs. It is a further object to provide such a carrier that is reducible in size when not in use, wherein the carrier collapses in telescoping manner and remains a unitary device rather than being separable into disassembled components.